Business Studies

The Business department in Tabor believe that through hard work, focused learning and serious academic application students will be able achieve well in a highly sought after list of qualifications. Students in any field of business or economics can go on to work in the world of business, finance or accounts.

The following courses are taught at Tabor;

GCSE Business Studies

The GCSE in Business is an introduction to how businesses work – perhaps you want to have your own business one day or want to find out more about how the world around you works. You will discover how a business is set up and how it becomes successful. Perhaps you will become the next Apprentice to Lord Sugar or star of Dragons Den.

What is the course about?

You will study 3 units:

Unit 1: Introduction to small businesses – This unit will give you an excellent understanding of all aspects of a small business from finding an idea to making the business work to managing money.

Unit 2: Investigating a small business – This unit is a 9 hour task set by the exam board. You will choose 1 question from 5 and carry out a case study of a local business to find out, in detail, about the business and how it works.

Unit 3: Building a business – This unit will help you to understand all the aspects of business including marketing, meeting customer needs, effective financial management, effective people management and how the world around us affects business.

How is the course assessed/examined?

Unit 3 has a 1.5 hour examination, with a mixture of multiple choice and short written answer questions.

What can I do once I’ve completed the course?

Following completion of the GCSE in Business, successful candidates would be able to enter initial employment at a junior level in such areas as administration assistance, telesales operations or continue with further study.

You will have become skilled in making decisions, being creative, solving problems, understanding finance, dealing with data, communicating and working as part of a team. Even if you do not study Business further, you will benefit from knowing how the businesses around you work. This course would enable you to enter a career in a business related profession such as accountancy, law, marketing or leisure and tourism.

BTEC Business Level 2 First award in Business (One GCSE equivalent)

What is the course about?

The BTEC Business course will take students through a more practical approach to business and aims to give students a hands on learning approach to the subject. Running alongside the teaching and learning there will be different tasks that students need to complete and have internally assessed.

How is this course assessed?

Year 10

Enterprise in the Business World. This is assessed through portfolio evidence.

Finance for Business. This is assessed through an online external examination worth 25% of the overall classification.

Year 11

Promoting a Brand. This is assessed through portfolio evidence.

Recruitment, Selection & Employment. This is assessed through portfolio evidence.

What can I do once I have completed the course?

Students that have completed this course may go on with other GCSE qualifications to study a variety of topics. Whilst this course lends itself to moving on to studying things like Business, Economics or BTEC level 3, it has many uses. The deadlines that call for a student to be personally accountable for their time management mean that employers and further education institutions find this course to be an excellent preparation for next steps.